The Quest
· can be defined as a voyage with a goal, a “Suchwanderung”.
· the goal is usually a treasured item or one’s own soul.
· 3 major parts: the departure, the voyage with adventures, and the return or the
heightening of the hero.
· Invisible Man: the search for identity or for his self.
I. The departure of the hero
The hero parts from his social group
reason: a disharmony within the society he lives in.
Invisible Man: his departure from the hole he lives in
or
his expulsion from college after which he tries to find himself.
II. The voyage with adventures
The hero undertakes a voyage and has to get through several adventures: fighting monsters
and/ or giants, being seduced by beautiful women, being led on the wrong track.
Helpful figures: good spirits who aid him and show him the right track.
The height of adventures: reached in the death struggle or supreme ordeal, where the hero
dies a symbolic death. This means that his former self dies, and this death is followed by a
spiritual rebirth. à initiation
1. bus trip to New York
fatherly advice by the vet: learn to look beneath the surface (127); play the game, but play it
your own way. Learn how it operates, learn how you operate (128); be your own father,
young man. And remember, the world is possibility if only you’ll discover it (130).
2. disillusionments: The letters of recommendation from Bledsoe [...]
Ralph Ellison - Invisible Man
